Oregon Jewish Museum opens exhibit on athletes from local Jewish community

View full sizeMolly Hottle/The OregonianThe helmet and game-winning football belonging to Josh Frankel, a University of Oregon player who kicked a field goal in triple overtime in 1999 to nail a 33-30 victory over USC, are part of the "In the Game" exhibit at the Oregon Jewish Museum.

Imagine it's fall 1999. The University of Oregon Ducks football team is tied with the University of Southern California in triple overtime, and the Ducks are going for a field goal to win the game.

Oregon's kicker, Josh Frankel, steps onto the field as every fan in the stadium appears to hold his or her breath. He kicks the ball, it's good and Eugene's Autzen Stadium erupts in cheers.

It's a moment in Oregon football history that is being played over and over on a television screen in the Oregon Jewish Museum's latest exhibit, "In the Game," which tells the stories of Oregon Jewish athletes. The exhibit opened June 6 with a reception that included the induction of the first members of the Oregon Jewish Sports Hall of Fame.

From letterman jackets to historical photographs and a torch carried to the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, museum staff put together "In the Game" using their extensive collections and with help from community members. The purpose of the exhibit is to show visitors how instrumental Jewish residents were in establishing sports in Oregon, said museum director Judy Margles.

"I think the exhibit really shows how from the earliest times that these (Jewish) kids wanted to play on sports teams, they wanted to mirror what their friends and neighbors were doing and this is the way they were able to do it," Margles said.

"In the Game" is part of a series of exhibits the museum has been curating about how Jewish Oregonians have made their living. While most athletes featured in the exhibit didn't make their living through professional sports, Margles said the display shows how Jewish people lived.

"We wanted to bring something with a slightly lighter tone, but there's a real serious side to the exhibit in that it does show that the Jewish community is part of the community," she said. "We're really seamlessly integrated into the larger community."

All of Oregon's beloved sports teams are represented in the exhibit. Frankel's game-winning football and Ducks helmet are on display. There are photos of sailors traveling to Portland to watch the Beavers play baseball and of Portland Trail Blazers founder Harry Glickman, who was inducted into the Oregon Jewish Sports Hall of Fame.

The exhibit fits into one large room in the museum's Northwest Portland building, and it's divided into several themes. In the first section, a display makes connections between sports and the Bible.

"It's the idea that Jacob in the Bible, he wrestled with the angel and he won," Margles said. "That seemed to be worth saying."

Another section is dedicated to non-athletes such as coaches, fans and sportswriters. In this section there are grainy black-and-white photographs of the Portland Outdoor Store and the White Stag Building, and one of the first Columbia Sportswear designs: a multi-pocket fishing vest.

"This really put Columbia Sportswear on the map," Margles said.

The exhibit also shows the discrimination Jewish athletes sometimes faced. The first Jewish immigrants to Oregon came from Europe in the 1850s and faced little discrimination. But by the 1910s, Jewish people were not allowed into area country clubs. So in 1912, Jews founded the Tualatin Country Club, which still exists.

"Jews were masters at replicating what the non-Jewish community wouldn't let them do," Margles said.